A press release from our friends from the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association:
Meet local farmers and tour their scenic and sustainable farms.
It’s farm-fresh fun for the whole family!
The inaugural Triad Farm Tour, happening Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8, 2014 from 2:00-6:00 PM both days, will open the barn doors and farm gates of 17 scenic and sustainable farms throughout the Triad in Alamance, Forsyth, Guilford, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin counties.
This self-guided tour, sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, features working farms and gardens and taps into the Triad’s growing passion for local food and farming.
Some of the unique things to see and do on the tour —
— See lots of cute baby farm animals, including baby chicks, pigs and goats;
— Learn gardening and growing techniques such as composting, season-extending hoop houses, permaculture, small-scale family gardens and raised vegetable beds;
— Check out how they grow vegetables, fruits, flowers, mushrooms and more without harmful pesticides;
— Learn more about what it really means to “eat like a pig’ and why farm animals love pasture; find out what a chicken tractor or hen-a-bago is
— Get a behind-the-scenes view of a goat and a cow dairy, a truffle farm, a winery, a farm that specializes in garlic, ginger and berries, another that grows wheat and an historical farm that lets you experience farm life circa 1900;
— Enjoy a farm-fresh picnic or snack with food and treats sold at the farms;
— Teach your children where their food comes from, take a hayride, and more!
“So many children have read story books about farms and farm animals, but have never actually seen a farm. By touring, children and adults learn where their food comes from and what a real farm is,“ said Roland McReynolds, CFSA Executive Director. “It’s a great way to see how food is produced on sustainable small farms and support the local farmer who grows it!”
Tour tickets, good for both days, are $25 per vehicle in advance. Tickets are available for purchase during the tour for $30 or you can also choose to pay $10 per farm (available for purchase at all of the farms during the tour). Groups of cycles count as one vehicle. Tickets can be purchased online now at http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft/ or at Deep Roots, Burlington Company Shops or Cobblestone Farmers Market in Winston-Salem.
The tour is self-guided. Choose the farms you want to visit on the interactive map to plan your tour. Visit any farm in any order. And, don’t forget to take a cooler so that you can bring home some of the farm fresh products for sale at many farms! No pets allowed. The tour is rain or shine. Proceeds from the tour support the work of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.
Complete information about the tour and the farms, with interactive maps and driving directions to each farm, plus tour tickets are available here.
You can also contact Laura Stewart, Farm Tour Coordinator
Email: lauras@carolinafarmstewards.org
Office Phone: 919-542-2402
Mobile Phone: 309-660-9704
[hr]
The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association helps people grow and eat local, organic food by advocating for fair farm and food policies, building the systems family farms need to thrive, and educating communities about local, organic farming. Visit the website.
We are grateful to TS Designs and Piedmont Grown for helping to sponsor this tour.